Episode 657: Sonic + Knuckles Pt. 4

Stuart: What else is there to say? Look, we’ve done three of these now, you know what you’re getting into. This is part four, and there’s one more left—that’ll be in the new year. Then it’ll be finished and your life will suddenly feel almost impossibly empty. In the meantime, please do enjoy this continued extensive examination of the Sonic & Knuckles part of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, with delightful cover art by Amy Bulmer.

Have you been looking at the cover art for these episodes, by the by? It’s all been rather good, hasn’t it? I have been wanting to use mostly new-to-Retronauts artists for these, and I think you should go and look at them. I don’t know what else to say about the podcast really, it’s the next one of the five, and when they’re all out I believe (quite genuinely) that we’ll have something of a seminal piece of game appreciation on our hands. That’s not intended to be self-aggrandising in an egotistical sense—as I’ve mentioned before, this sort of thing is exactly what I wanted to do when I got started on Retronauts and it brings me a lot of joy to be able to do it with such interesting, informed, entertaining people.

The response to these episodes has been wonderfully positive and affirming, with near-constant requests for the next part. I know they’ve been pretty spaced out, I’ve just had a lot of other things to cover and during COVID I recorded… well, let’s just say far too many podcasts. But yes, there’s just this one and the finale to come and that’ll be all she wrote for Sonic 3 & Knuckles on Retronauts. Thankfully, it won’t be all she wrote for Sonic the Hedgehog, as I have several episodes in the can and several more planned. Gotta space ‘em out, though. You know. Other franchises are available.

Edits by Greg Leahy; art by Amy Bulmer

• 08:15 - Flying Battery Zone, Act 1

• 15:18 - Flying Battery Zone, Act 2

• 23:04 - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (MD): Wing Fortress Zone

• 28:41 - Super Mario 64 DS: Loves Me... Not?

• 37:15 - Sonic Mania: Eggman Boss 1 | Sandopolis, Act 1

• 50:27 - Sandopolis, Act 1 (cont.)

• 57:48 - Sandopolis, Act 2

• 1:05:45 - "Otherworldly Concerto" (The Haunted Mansion Ballroom Music)

• 1:12:48 - Invincible | Lava Reef Zone, Act 1

• 1:22:36 - Lava Reef Zone, Act 1 (cont.)

• 1:29:52 - Lava Reef Zone, Act 2

• 1:44:29 - Act 2 Boss

• Closing - EastEnders End Credits Theme